Compare Web Hosting Providers

Our goal at Hostscores is to provide you an easy and reliable way to compare web hosting companies. We manually moderate all user reviews so you can be sure they are genuine and we arrange all our hosts by category so you can compare hosts who offer similar packages and products. If you have a question about any of the reviews on Hostscores, or if you are not sure what you want please contact us and we’d be happy to help.

How to Compare Hosting Companies

Choosing a hosting provider is one of the most important aspects of getting a website off the ground. Even if your site is impeccably designed and of the utmost quality, low-quality hosting will doom it to failure. If you’ve never had to find a hosting provider before, though, you may be unsure about how to proceed. What kinds of things matter when it comes to hosting? Learn how to compare hosting providers to ensure you choose the right one the first time…

10 Considerations:

Before starting your search for hosting in earnest, familiarize yourself with the following 10 points. By keeping them in mind, you’ll zero in on the perfect hosting provider in no time.

Price – Sure, free is great. Free hosting is readily available too, but that doesn’t mean it’s the right option. Free hosting tends to be very limited in scope and typically requires you to plaster your site with ads. Cheap hosting might be just what you need, but you should identify the features you absolutely need first and then go from there.

Technical Aspects – Keep the technical requirements of your site in mind while shopping for hosting. Your hosting provider must support the proper operating system, for instance. It should be compatible with the database you use, whether it’s MySQL or a newer option like Mongo. The best hosting provider will support the scripts you use; if you prefer Ruby, for instance, find a plan that supports it. If you’ll be relying on script installers for apps like WordPress, make sure your hosting provider supports them too.

Storage – Many hosting plans now offer unlimited storage. If you have a very small, simple site, though, you may be able to save money by opting for hosting with less storage space. Either way, make sure the plan you select offers more than enough space while giving your site room to grow.

Bandwidth – Server bandwidth is an important consideration. If you’re starting a whole new site, estimating how much bandwidth it’ll need may be tricky. If you have an existing site, you should have a decent idea about how much you’ll need. One way to avoid this issue entirely is by opting for hosting with unlimited bandwidth.

Performance – The hosting you choose directly impacts the performance of your site. One way to gauge the performance offered by any given hosting provider is by considering their uptime percentage. This signifies the time, on average, that a site is up and running. Needless to say, you’ll want a hosting provider that offers the best uptime possible. Look for something along the lines of 99.99-percent uptime. Better still, choose one that offers an uptime guarantee. Providers with mirrored servers, multiple backup locations and other redundancy measures tend to offer the best performance.

User Interface – Insist on hosting with an intuitive, easy user interface. When in doubt, stick with hosting providers that use cPanel or other tried-and-true options.

Hosting Type – Nearly all hosting providers offer various levels of hosting. Shared hosting is the most affordable, but your site’s performance may be negatively impacted by sharing resources with others. Virtual private servers are popular, and managed hosting is perfect for website owners who want to be as hands-off as possible.

Backups – Select a hosting provider with a rock-solid backup policy. Automated backups should be a part of your hosting plan, and the provider should have a clear recovery plan in place.

Support – With managed hosting, you’ll get the most extensive support. Otherwise, investigate how you will get support if and when you need it. The best hosting providers offer several options, including live chat, email and telephone support. Seek out providers with extensive knowledgebases too, including FAQs and user forums.

Reputation – Finally, find out what others have to say about a hosting provider before taking the plunge. Any reputable business will have plenty of online reviews by real people. Check out plenty of them before making your decision. And make sure that any reviews you read online are real. Here at Hostscores we manually verify the authenticity of all reviews before they are published. Sadly that isn’t the case on many review sites.

As you investigate various hosting providers, go down the list of the above 10 points. The winner will excel in all areas while offering the features, support and pricing you need.

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